Chapter 4 - Captured

 

Peter and the boys were having a ball.  They loved swimming, and since Peter had asked nicely (flirted shamelessly actually, but when it came to girls he didn’t know the difference), the mermaids were letting them swim in their lagoon alone.  The boys were playing water tag, and the one who was ‘It’ had to dunk his victim to make the tag.  Tinker Bell was sitting on the mermaids’ sunning rock, watching the children play. 

She was a little annoyed at Peter.  She hated it when he was around the mermaids.  They always fawned over him, taking his attention away from her.  Today it had been especially bad.  She had worn a new dress today, and Peter hadn’t noticed or complimented her at all.  But he had definitely noticed a mermaid’s new necklace, and had made many comments about it, to the fish-girl’s extreme delight.  I know he was just buttering her up so that they could have the lagoon to themselves.  But it still hurts that he never notices me anymore.  I wonder if I were to leave, how long would it be before he realized I was gone?  Probably not until they needed me to dust them again.

“Come on, Slightly!  You can do better than that!” she called aloud, trying to concentrate on the game and lighten her mood.  Nibs caught up to Slightly and pulled him underwater.  When Slightly came up sputtering, she joined the others in their laughter.  Playfully, the new ‘It’ flicked a bit of water in her direction.

“Hey!  Don’t get me wet!” she protested as she dodged the splash. 

Suddenly, a torrent of water poured down upon her.  Tink shrieked in shock.  She tried to fly, but her wings were soaking wet and wouldn’t carry her.  Angrily, she shook her hair out of her face and looked for the source of the water.  Curly was floating above her, laughing so hard he was doubled over.  The other boys were also laughing and jeering. 

“Curly!  How could you!” she screeched.  She looked down and moaned, “My new dress… it’s ruined!”

“Oh, Tink, it was just a joke!  If you could’a seen the look on your face!” Curly said, laughingly.

“Yeah, Tink, you look like a drowned rat!” Peter called, laughing so hard he thought he was going to burst.

Tink was furious at Curly, but Peter’s jeer pushed her over the edge.  I wanted to look nice for him!  She shook the excess water off of her wings and body, then used some magic to dry the rest off.  But her dress was wrinkled and torn and her hair was a mess.

“You are all such asses!  I don’t know why I put up with you!” she screamed angrily.

Peter was shocked at her reaction.  He swam over to the rock and looked at her.  “Gosh, Tink.  He was just playing.  You thought it was funny when we got dunked.”

“Yeah, Tink, can’t you take a joke?  I’m sorry, I was just playing…” Curly began but Tinker Bell flew up and interrupted.

“Well, I wasn’t playing!  I was watching!” she corrected angrily, shaking her finger at his nose.  “I try to look nice for once and you ruin it!”

“That’s enough, Tink!” Peter flew up to where the two were hovering above the rock.  “He apologized!  Quit being such a girl!”

Tink stared at him openmouthed.  “I am a girl.  Why don’t you ever see that?”  Peter didn’t answer, just frowned and looked confused.  Tink was too upset and disappointed to argue anymore.  “I wish you weren’t such a child sometimes,” she cried exasperated and flew away.  When she got to the bushes along the shore, she settled in them to calm down unobserved. 

“Should we follow her, Peter?  She seems awfully upset,” asked Nibs. 

Peter shook his head, “Nah, she’ll be fine.  She’s just being a baby.  She’ll come around later.”

A baby?  I’M being a baby?  How dare he!  They’d be completely lost without me!  After all I do for them… I let them fly and watch over them… they laugh at me and call me names!  Peter should know better!  I’ll show them!  They need to remember how important I am to them, and quit taking me for granted.  Tink flew away quickly and snapped her fingers, removing her flying spell from her charges.

Peter and Curly suddenly found themselves falling.  They landed mostly in the water, but they were too close to the rock when they went under.  Peter’s right leg hit the jagged stone, bruising it badly and gashing it from his mid-calf, along the outside of his leg past his ankle, and across the top of his foot nearly to his toes.  Curly’s left arm also hit the rocks, breaking it just above the wrist.  He also was cut, from elbow to wrist along the inside of his arm.  The rest of the Lost Boys thought at first that Peter and Curly were playing a game.  But then they saw the bloodstained water where they two boys should have resurfaced.  Nibs and Slightly quickly dove and grabbed them, Nibs with Curly and Slightly with Peter.  They helped the stunned boys back to the surface, where the Twins and Tootles waited worriedly. 

Peter coughed and sputtered when he broke the surface.  “Come on … out of the water before a shark or the crock comes!”

They swam towards the shore, Peter and Curly assisted by the others.  Peter grimaced in pain as he stepped on the beach and the sand found its way into his wound.  He did not cry out or complain, though, as he led his boys back to where their clothes lay.  He sat on a log and while the others got dressed, used his dagger to cut a few long strips of cloth from his cape.  He picked up a couple of nearby sticks and trimmed them down for splints.  When he was done, he looked over at Curly, who had not yet gotten dressed. 

“Give me your arm, Curly,” he said.

“Please don’t touch it, Peter,” Curly moaned.  Tears rolled down his face, and he tried as hard as he could to not cry out.  It had gone numb when he had hit the rocks, but now the feeling was returning.  It hurt worse than anything he could ever remember feeling.  “I think it’s broken.”

“I know it’s broken, Curly.  I can see it.  I have to touch it, though.  We have to keep it from moving or it will hurt worse.  Besides, you’re bleeding.  We have to stop that or the wild animals will smell your blood.  You don’t want the croc to come looking for lunch, do you?”

Curly’s eyes widened, and he sat next to Peter.  To his credit, Peter bound the injured arm fairly well, and didn’t hurt the boy too much.  After wrapping the wound and splinting it, he used a thin vine to make a sling.  “Keep your arm in this, so it stays up.  It’s harder for the blood to flow up, so you won’t bleed as much.  It’ll also keep it still, so you won’t accidentally bump it against anything.”

“Where’d you learn to do that?” Nibs asked, impressed.

Peter shrugged.  “I don’t know.  Someone taught me long ago, I think.  You have to know stuff like that if you live in dangerous places and have to take care of yourself.”  Peter took up another strip of cloth and began to wrap up his own leg, which was still bleeding badly.

“Are you gonna make a sling for your leg?” Tootles asked.

“No, silly.  I’ve got to walk.  The Indian village is nearby, so we should go there.  Chief Panther is our enemy, but he’ll help us if we call a truce.  He’s a great healer, and he’ll fix us up so we’re good as new.”

Gingerly, Peter slid his boots back on.  The top of his boot almost completely hid the wrapping.  “See?  You can hardly tell I’m bandaged.  Mine isn’t nearly as bad as Curly’s.  Let’s go, quickly!”

“We have to walk?”  Tootles asked as they began their trek into the woods.

“Well, we slightly cannot fly!  Tinker Bell made sure of that,” Slightly reminded the smallest boy.

“Why did she do it?” Nibs mused.

“Because she’s being a selfish pain in the foot!” Peter grunted.  “We hurt her feelings, so she decided to get us back.  But I don’t think she meant for us to get hurt.”  Peter yelped as he stumbled on a loose rock.

“Are you sure you’re ok?  We can carry you…” Nibs began.

“I’m fine!  See?  I’m not even limping.  It hurts, but not too bad,” Peter lied.  He actually hurt a lot, but he didn’t want to worry the others.  Besides, he was extremely worried about Curly, who trudged along beside him silently.  When this is over and we get home, I’m banishing Tink for a week!

Slowly, they made progress.  Curly was trying hard, but he kept slowing down.  His bandage was soaked with blood and he was becoming increasingly tired and dizzy.  Eventually, Peter called for a halt.

“Curly and I need a rest.  This is taking a lot longer than I expected.  Twins, I want you both to go on to the Indian village.  Tell Chief Panther what’s wrong and that we want a truce and help.  Have them meet us here.  It will be faster that way.”

“Right! … We’ll be… right back!  You can… count on us,” they answered in turn.  They disappeared into the brush as they began their run to the village.  However, they didn’t make it far before they were jumped by Mullins and Starkey.  They were bound and gagged before they realized what had happened.

This is perfect!  Hook thought ecstatically as he watched the remaining boys through the bushes.  He and his men had heard the boys playing at the mermaid lagoon and had gone there to capture them.  But when they had arrived, they found bloodied sand and pieces of Peter’s cloak.  It had been easy to follow their trail, especially when after awhile they had begun to find drops of blood along the way.  They had quickly caught up to the boys, and had waited to assess the situation before attacking.  Peter’s rest stop made it ridiculously easy for Hook to have his men surround the boys.  Now they only awaited their captain’s signal to spring the trap.

One is hurt, and none of the brats can fly!  Hook grinned evilly.  This was the perfect opportunity he had been waiting weeks for.  And, even better, that blasted pixie is nowhere to be seen.  Oh, this is truly beyond my hopes.  This is the day!

When he saw Mullins and Starkey take up their places again, he knew the Twins had been secured.  Hook’s eyes flashed as he signaled his men and leapt into the clearing.

“I have you now, Pan!” he shouted as he jumped towards the surprised boy.

“RUN!” Peter screamed to his boys.

The Lost Boys tried to scatter, but they were surrounded.  Each pirate knew which boy he was to go for.  Mason grabbed Nibs, Mullins took Slightly.  Starkey almost let Tootles get away, but when Jukes blocked the boy’s path, he was able to snag him.  Mr. Smee, however was confused.  He had rushed for Curley, but the boy just stared at him and didn’t get up. 

“Boy?” he queried as he walked up to him.

“I – I surrender…please… just don’t touch me,” he stammered.  He had seen the others captured, and knew he himself was too weak to get away.

“Umm… Ok then, lad,” Smee replied.  He stood next to the boy and waited.

Hook, of course, had eyes only for Peter.  Peter drew his dagger to fight.  He knew he couldn’t run on his leg, and he saw that his boys had been caught.  He was no coward, and he would not desert his men.  All he could do was to fight Hook and hope to defeat him.  Hook was upon him in an instant, and Peter desperately ducked and rolled, trying to avoid the large man’s blows. 

In their battles, Peter’s strengths were his speed and agility, which were multiplied by his ability to fly.  These assets allowed him to avoid direct strikes from Hook, or to absorb the blows he caught on his dagger.  Hook was almost inhumanly strong, and Peter was too small to bear a direct hit.  But now, Peter had lost his assets: he couldn’t fly, and his injury hampered his agility.  The only thing that kept him alive was that Hook wanted him that way.  Had the pirate wanted to kill him, he most likely would have succeeded. 

Hook swiped at the boy with his claw, which Peter parried as he tried to back away.  The pirate captain bore down with his weight, causing the boy to stumble and backpedal awkwardly.  Peter gave a yelp of pain as the man kicked out with his foot and knocked the boy’s legs out from under him.  A moment later, he was off the ground as Hook lifted him up and wrenched the blade from Peter’s grasp.  Suddenly he was eye to eye with the pirate Captain.

“You’re mine now, Pan!” he purred.

“Let them go, Hook!” Peter demanded.

Hook laughed, “Go?  I don’t think so.”  He tossed Peter to Mason, who quickly bound the boy and set him down with the others.

“I noticed young Curly is injured,” Hook said amiably.  He kneeled before the child, the only one who wasn’t tied up.  He looked at the wrapped arm and shook his head.  “Does it hurt much?” he asked in mock concern.

“No, sir,” Curly lied.  He may have surrendered, but he didn’t want to admit weakness to the evil man.

“Good.  Then you won’t mind if Mr. Smee takes a look at it.  He really is gentle with injuries.  He cared for me when your leader cut off my hand.  I’m sure your problem will be a snap compared to that.”

Smee squatted next to Curly.  “Now lemme see yer arm lad,” he coaxed as he slid the boy’s arm out of the sling.  He unwrapped it carefully and whistled.  “Nice cut there, laddie!  Yer gonna need stitches, ya are.  Hold on, this will hurt a bit.”

Curly screamed as Smee poked his arm.  “Jus’ like ya said, Cap’n.  It’s broken.  Gonna have to set the bone, too.”

“Wrap it, Smee, and stop his bleeding.  I want him alive, and I don’t want to leave a blood-trail like these idiots did.  If the croc crosses that, she’ll be here double quick.”

Smee was very practiced in caring for wounds of all kinds, since he was what passed for ship’s surgeon as well as bosun.  In a few minutes, he had re-wrapped Curly’s arm in a new, cleaner cloth – with only a minimum of pain to the boy.  When it was re-slung, the turned to the Captain, “Well, all done, sir.  Shall we tie the lad up like his mates?”

Hook looked at the small boy, and saw that he was in a bad way.  He had lost a lot of blood, and was in severe pain.  “No.  He’s not going to run anywhere.  I want them all gagged but keep their feet free.  Mr. Mason!  Carry the wounded one – gently now.  I don’t want him crying out.  I want no witnesses that we have them, and I don’t want Pan’s pixie finding us.  Now, boys, you will come along quickly and quietly.  Any attempts to escape or hinder our progress, and Master Curly will have worse than a broken arm.  He’ll have a broken neck, which, if you don’t know, will be quite fatal.”  He chuckled at the shocked and frightened looks on the children’s’ faces – including Peter Pan’s.  Soon, boy, our fun will begin.